Interview with Congressman John E. Peterson.

Interview with Congressman John E. Peterson. John Peterson was first elected to serve as congressman fromPennsylvania's Fifth Congressional District Noun 1. congressional district - a territorial division of a state; entitled to elect one member to the United States House of Representativesdistrict, territorial dominion, territory, dominion - a region marked off for administrative or other purposes in 1996. He hadpreviously served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two year terms from single member districts. and was amember of the Pennsylvania Pennsylvania(pĕnsəlvā`nyə), one of the Middle Atlantic states of the United States. It is bordered by New Jersey, across the Delaware River (E), Delaware (SE), Maryland (S), West Virginia (SW), Ohio (W), and Lake Erie and New York Senate for 12 years. During his freshman termin the U.S. House of Representatives, Peterson was a member of the HouseEducation and Workforce Committee and served on two education-relatedconference committees: Higher Education higher educationStudy beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art. and Vocational Education vocational education,training designed to advance individuals' general proficiency, especially in relation to their present or future occupations. The term does not normally include training for the professions. . At the ACTE ACTE Association for Career and Technical Education (formerly American Vocational Association)ACTE Association of Corporate Travel ExecutivesACTE Approvals Committee for Terminal EquipmentACTE Anodal Closure Tetanus National Policy Seminar in April, you announced thatyou were in the process of drafting a bill that you planned to callTechnology Education for the 21st Century or TECH-21. What is theconcept behind TECH-21 and what would it mean for career and technicaleducation? One of the problems facing skilled technical education is the costof outfitting out��fit?n.1. A set of tools or equipment for a specialized purpose: a welder's outfit.See Synonyms at equipment.2. A set of clothing, often with accessories.3. the classroom. Compared to an academic education, askilled training program is more expensive and in many casesconsiderably more expensive. Along those same lines, the machines thatare used today to ensure training on cutting-edge technology are alsorather expensive. In order to improve the quality of technical education, thetechnologies that are being used by industry must be taught in theclassroom. This will entail entail,in law, restriction of inheritance to a limited class of descendants for at least several generations. The object of entail is to preserve large estates in land from the disintegration that is caused by equal inheritance by all the heirs and by the ordinary a tremendous investment into our classrooms.Federal funding has remained fairly level over the past five or soyears, and some would argue that it has actually decreased. This meansthe burden of improving both the curriculum and infrastructure is setsquarely square��ly?adv.1. Mathematics At right angles: sawed the beam squarely.2. In a square shape.3. at the local and state level. TECH-21 is designed to ease this burden. As schools move toward amore academic-focused technical curriculum, they will need help updatingthe equipment and technologies. My bill simply helps with this processwhile maintaining a state and local commitment. My hope is that the legislation will have a tremendous impact onimproving not only the quality, but also the public awareness oftechnical education. By providing this investment opportunity, themessage sent will be that this is an important component of our nationaleducation policy. What is the current status of TECH-21? The current status of TECH-21 is that I am putting the finaltouches on the bill and working towards what I hope to be a large pressconference demonstrating support from industry, as well as from theeducators. I anticipate that introduction of the proposal will takeplace the second week in September. When you served in the Pennsylvania state legislature A state legislature may refer to a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system.The following legislatures exist in the following political subdivisions: , you createdfour higher education councils that serve as "colleges withoutwalls." Can you explain the program, and do you think it might workwell in other districts in the country? The Higher Education Councils that I created were in response to aneed for postsecondary academic opportunities in the area I represented.Although Pennsylvania is blessed with a multitude of fine academicinstitutions, they are few and far between across the northern tier The Northern Tier can refer to In America, the Five Northern Tier counties in Pennsylvania. The Northern Tier National High Adventure Bases of the Boy Scouts of America . Inessence, the High-Ed Councils bring multiple academic institutions underone roof offering a variety of classes that provide the opportunity foracademic improvement. The concept would work in any area where higher educationopportunities are lacking. In fact, there are now 10 of these Councilsacross Pennsylvania with five of them in my district, and I know thereare discussions to create more. The attraction is that at one facilityan individual can take advantage of receiving courses from severalinstitutions that are normally in competition with one another. Thisenvironment has proven to be beneficial not only for the students, butalso for the institutions as highlighted by new course offerings and anever-expanding curriculum. However, while I am very proud of theseinstitutions, it should be noted that these facilities focus onacademic, not technical, education. As a freshman member of Congress, you served on two educationcommittees, one of which was Vocational Education. Why haseducation--and career and technical education in particular--been soimportant to you throughout your political career? The American public has placed a value on a traditional four-yeardegree. The facts are that workforce demand for individuals with afour-year degree has not changed over the past 50 years, and in fact,has actually dwindled slightly. In addition, new figures recentlyreleased indicate that over half of those who enter college do notcomplete their four years and receive an academic degree. When looking at workforce opportunities, many of these individualswill choose between manufacturing or service-oriented jobs. However, themanufacturing and processing industries have become highly skilled andtechnical in nature. Employers in these areas are frantically fran��tic?adj.1. Highly excited with strong emotion or frustration; frenzied: frantic with worry.2. beggingfor skilled laborers and finding very few qualified individuals. Inorder to ensure that these industries can pull from a qualifiedapplicant pool, we need to improve and invest in skilled technicaleducation. My passion on this issue comes from a belief that manufacturing iswhat made and makes this country great, but we are facing a real crisisdue to the lack of an available quality workforce. As such, the declineof America is in the balance if we begin to lose the manufacturing basewe have now. This issue is vital to economic security. Factories used to locate where the rivers and rail crossed. Thenthey located where the highways intersected. Now they will locatewherever there is a trained workforce. Unfortunately, there is still astigma stigma:see pistil. Stigmamark of CainGod’s mark on Cain, a sign of his shame for fratricide. [O. T.: Genesis 4:15]scarlet letter that these jobs are dirty jobs Dirty Jobs is a program on the Discovery Channel in which host Mike Rowe is shown performing difficult, strange, and/or messy occupational duties alongside professional workers. The show premiered with three pilot episodes in November 2003. . The fact is that thetechnological improvements have greatly improved the quality of the workenvironment, and they are good paying jobs. It is vital to make aninvestment into technical education for those who do not believe atraditional college experience is for them and for those who cannot payfor college. You recently were successful in gaining approval for funding forPennsylvania State University's agriculture programs. What do yousee as the future for agriculture programs such as the ones at PennState? The Pennsylvania State University Pennsylvania State University,main campus at University Park, State College; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1855, opened 1859 as Farmers' High School. is the Land Grant University inPennsylvania. As such, Penn State's mission is to conduct researchon and provide information to those involved in agriculture. I ampleased to have the opportunity to represent Penn State and lend myefforts to securing funding for their research. Research is a vitalcomponent for the agricultural sector, but also in preserving thequality food supply that we depend on in this nation. The federalgovernment's role has been to support this research in order tofind better ways to more abundantly a��bun��dant?adj.1. Occurring in or marked by abundance; plentiful. See Synonyms at plentiful.2. Abounding with; rich: a region abundant in wildlife. produce crops and other agriculturalproducts that are more resistant to disease and weather conditions. Asthe acreage used for farming continues to dwindle dwin��dle?v. dwin��dled, dwin��dling, dwin��dlesv.intr.To become gradually less until little remains.v.tr.To cause to dwindle. See Synonyms at decrease. , it is essential thatthe federal government continue to pursue research in these areas. As a supporter of President George W. Bush's education plan,can you tell us hew hew?v. hewed, hewn or hewed, hew��ing, hewsv.tr.1. To make or shape with or as if with an ax: hew a path through the underbrush.2. you feel the plan will affect career and technicaleducation? The education plan presented by President Bush and now beingfinalized See finalization. in Congress focuses on elementary and secondary education. Thelegislation that authorizes the funding for skilled technical educationis separate from this bill. However, it is my understanding that theadministration is more focused on the K-8 grades right now and willfocus on secondary and postsecondary education next year at some point.There are still great opportunities available to improve career andtechnical education in this administration, and I look forward to beingdeeply involved in that process. In addition, I have had personal meetings with Education SecretaryPaige and Labor Secretary Chao about skilled technical education. Theyhave recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is a legal document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action and may not imply a legal commitment. that will bring thesetwo departments into better contact and coordination. That will be atremendous help in moving career training to the forefront of thepriority list. Furthermore, both secretaries are equally excited aboutmoving a dialogue forward toward ways to improve this training. So I seea great opportunity to work with this administration in the very nearfuture.